How does the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine work?

Amid fears over the possible side effects of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the third Puerto Rican who was immunized at Ashford Hospital today, Tuesday, explained that the inoculation only contains genetic material responsible for producing antibodies. .

(This vaccine), in particular, I think is going to be extremely safe because it has no adjuvant or any chemical that makes the body react. It simply gives instructions for a protein that protects you by producing antibodies. ”, said the urologist Eduardo Canto.

According to Galen, the muscle in which he received the vaccine will produce the protein that will later immunize his system, preventing the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from entering the cells.

“You shouldn’t have anyone hesitating about making that decision (vaccinating)”, Canto pointed out.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which last Friday authorized the emergency use of the vaccine, explained that it contains only messenger RNA (mRNA), which is genetic material.

The vaccine contains a small fragment of the SARS-CoV-2 virus mRNA that instructs the body’s cells to produce the characteristic “spike” protein (known as “spike”). of the virus. When a person receives this vaccine, their body produces copies of the peak protein, which does not cause disease, but triggers the immune system to learn to react defensively, producing an immune response to SARS-CoV. -2, details the regulatory body on its website.

On the other hand, precisely because of Canto was that the hospital had a refrigerator with temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees Celsius below zero, required to store the vaccine. The urologist uses this refrigerator to store tissues and samples from cancer patients for scientific research.

The freezer has a capacity to store 3,000 vaccines, according to the chief executive of Ashford Hospital. Domingo Cruz Vivaldi.

Before the urologist, the respiratory therapist was vaccinated Yahaira Alicea, who attended the first patients diagnosed in Puerto Rico with the new coronavirus last March, and the gynecologist Manuel Velilla, the doctor who spent the most years working in the hospital.